


Snoopers Gonna Snoop

by Lia_Bolton



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), WandaVision (TV), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Billy Kaplan, BAMF Monica Rambeau, BAMF Pietro Maximoff, BAMF Tommy Shepherd, BAMF Vision, BAMF Wanda Maximoff, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, Maximoff family feels, Mind Control, Mind Controlled Pietro Maximoff, Multiverse, POV Pietro Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff is Peter Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff-centric, Set Directly After Post-Credits Scene, Spoilers From EP7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29591934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lia_Bolton/pseuds/Lia_Bolton
Summary: “Snoopers gonna snoop,” deadpans Peter.The woman in front of him looks up and meets his eyes, frightened. He takes a step back after realizing her eyes are purple too, just likehers.“Hey,” he says cautiously, taking extra care to speak slowly, “relax, I’m one of the said snoopers.”-Or, in which,PietroPeter catches Monica “snooping” and decides to help.
Relationships: Billy Kaplan & Peter Maximoff & Tommy Shepherd, Billy Kaplan & Pietro Maximoff & Tommy Shepherd, Billy Kaplan & Wanda Maximoff & Tommy Shepherd & Vision, Darcy Lewis & Vision, Peter Maximoff & Monica Rambeu, Pietro Maximoff & Monica Rambeu, Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff & Peter Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 68
Kudos: 479





	1. I’m One of the Said Snoopers

**Author's Note:**

> We. Got. 1.5. Seconds. Of. Quicksilver. Screen. Time. 
> 
> I’m mad so I wrote this. Is this fic a mess? Why yes, yes it is.
> 
> Okay, as for the heads up, Pietro is Peter, and has no siblings because why not? Also, Wanda and Agnes take their sweet time while going to Agnes’ house, so Monica figures out which house it is and arrives a few minutes before them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited for grammar on (04.03.2021)

“Snoopers gonna snoop,” deadpans Peter.

The woman in front of him looks up and meets his eyes, frightened. He takes a step back after realizing her eyes are purple too, just like _hers_.

“Hey,” he says cautiously, taking extra care to speak slowly, “relax, I’m one of the said snoopers.”

The woman looks at him skeptically, like she’s not sure if she should believe him or not. She eyes him from head to toe, like she just noticed that he was there – and then looks at him in surprise. “How? Why- why aren’t you with Wanda?” she asks, “Actually, why weren’t you with Wanda earlier today?”

Peter frowns, wondering how does the woman know about his and his not-so-sister’s relationship. “I made her mad last night, so she made red magic balls in return and sent me flying ten feet, so I thought that she didn’t wanna see me anymore.” he shrugs. “By the way, what’s your name?”

She looks like she’s not sure whether or not she should tell him. Peter opens his mouth to tell her that it’s okay if she doesn’t want to, but she answers before he can talk – if rather curtly. “Monica.”

“How?” she asks again, after a moment of silence, “how did you make her angry?”

“I… I told her that her dead husband can’t die twice?” answers Peter as he flinches, that really wasn’t a nice thing to say.

Apparently, Monica thinks the same.

“In my defense,” he adds quickly, as she looks at him warily, “it wasn’t really me.” Monica still doesn’t look like she believes him, much to his annoyance.

But the thing is, he kind of can’t believe it too.

He was in his basement, playing Pacman – and the next thing he knows, there’s a lunatic in his head throwing the best example he had ever heard of a witch laugh.

Just… why always him?

His annoyance about the situation quickly turned into horror when he noticed that a) he had an headache that was splitting his head in half and b) he couldn’t control _his_ _body_. Peter gulps unconsciously as he remembers how it felt – like someone was controlling him with strings, like he was a puppet. It wasn’t even the worst thing – the worst thing happened when he rang the doorbell of a home, and someone on the verge of crying opened it.

 _Wanda_.

He didn’t know who she was then, though. The only thing he knew was that he had to gain control of his body again, as soon as possible. He smiled like everything was normal when she looked at him in shock, but-

He honestly doesn’t know who was more shocked.

If it wasn’t him, he definitely earned the title when he heard a voice in his head. “Long lost bro get to squeeze his stinkin' sister to death or what?” What he wanted to do was, first, die because of second-hand embarrassment (because who in their right mind talks like _that_?), second, die because of the headache splitting his brain in two (someone’s voice echoing in his head definitely wasn’t helping and he would rather die than having this weird mind-thing happening to him, okay?), and third, choke on his spit (because _why the fuck_ was there a voice in his head?).

What he did was, instead, just listen as his lips moved to their own accord and repeated what the voice said. Having someone’s memories flooding into his head as he talked wasn’t a big plus either.

Peter had hated it that first time, and still hated it when he kept “mocking” (or namely, being an absolute bastard to) Wanda, and he hated it even more when he flew ten feet and fell on his back, almost breaking his spine.

Well, at least this whole experience taught him something: keeping his mouth shut when necessary.

Peter also learned that he doesn’t like purple-themed witches interrupting his dreams and tormenting him as they cackle. And he most certainly doesn’t like the fact that a certain purple-themed witch (or Agatha Harkness, as she proudly _sang_ before exclaiming that she also killed someone called Sparky – who writes a song like _that_? Peter shudders, just thinking about it.) is the one controlling him. Also, having her memories and thoughts flooding in his head every time he talked was not great, _at all_.

After he crashed with his new-found family (the couch was comfortable enough) and saw that lunatic Agatha in his dream, things only got even worse. 

The next day, which was Halloween, he was still being controlled, albeit differently. When Peter first arrived in the town (got kidnapped?), it felt like he was just watching everything, and not able to do anything. But that day, when he spent time with the twins and his sister, he felt like he could control himself – but at the same time, he couldn’t. It was even worse in a way, giving him a false sense of control. Also, it was creepy as hell, that, he can safely admit.

What he still doesn’t want to admit is that he kind of cares for Wanda and his “nephews” a tiny little bit. Maybe not a tiny little bit. Maybe a lot. 

Okay, a lot.

Which is weird, honestly. Especially considering that he only got to spend time with them for a day and wasn’t even in control of himself – also, it seems like Wanda is a bit crazy, with all this controlling a town with her “upgraded red wiggly woos”, as Agatha (or him, whatever – all of that is a big headache, both metaphorically and literally) phrased rather nicely. 

But Wanda also saved him with those red wiggly woos of hers, even if she was just trying to get rid of him or maim him (which purely depends on perspective, to be honest – but Peter’s bet is on the former), but he kind of deserved it with that comment of his. Even if it wasn’t really him.

Wanda didn’t know that though, so he’ll let it slide. 

He loves the twins, and even has the signs of showing some kind of favoritism, which he is somewhat ashamed of. Tommy is amazing and seems to worship Peter, and Peter returns his feelings – hell, he _adores_ Tommy. Billy is great too, and he’s definitely the cool twin, despite Tommy saying otherwise.

He has also seen how broken Wanda is, and it isn’t that hard to piece everything together – especially with Agatha being in his head for around twenty-four hours. So far, Peter is pretty sure that Vision is dead, Wanda has a twin called Pietro and for some reason she thinks that it’s him – probably because they somehow have the same surname? Wanda created or started controlling people here and revived Vision but Agatha is in control of everything now, and she has a big plan which he doesn’t know of, except for the fact that it involves Wanda.

Okay, maybe it _is_ hard to piece everything together.

But if there’s something he’s sure of, Wanda isn’t the baddie here. She probably is seriously unstable, or maybe even has something like PTSD (yes, he’s a physiologist now), but she is _not_ evil. He also knows that Wanda loves him, or that twin of hers she thought he was. And her family. 

For some reason, he really isn’t sure why, Peter loves her too, like he would love a younger sister – and wants to help her. Maybe he got attached because of yesterday, when they got to spend time with, or maybe he got attached when he saw how deeply the family cared for each other. Maybe – just maybe, he wants to be a part of it.

Even if he plans on going back home.

Peter gets the thought out of his mind, because he wants to go back – but at the same time, he wants to stay here.

Which is only possible if he gets Wanda out of Agatha’s coven-basement.

He eyes Monica tensely, trying to decide if he should trust her or not. These purple eyes of hers are definitely looking too much like Agatha’s for his liking, and Peter can’t help but worry. But she also radiates an air of trustworthiness, and he feels the knots in his stomach easing, and he decides to tell her about everything. 

Well, about the bullet points at least.

“Let me get this straight,” says Monica, right after Peter’s finished. “You are not really our Pietro-”

“Name’s Peter,” he corrects.

“Yeah, yeah, right,” Monica waves him off. “But Agnes-or-Agatha took you to impersonate Pietro, and you are fast like him, and your names are similar,” Monica’s lips tilt upwards knowingly, like an annoying piece of a puzzle just fit in its place, but she keeps talking without telling him anything. “You weren’t really in control because of a spell, but when Wanda hit you with her magic, you regained control. You had to rest to heal, and now want to help her because she’s in trouble – all correct?”

He nods, “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

“What’s Agatha planning? How did you know Wanda would be in trouble in the first place? Also, wasn’t it shown that she was being mind-controlled like everyone else last episode?” Monica fires her questions, this time curious instead of suspicious. 

Peter blinks. “Episode? What episode? What are you talking about?”

Monica stares at him like he’s dumb for a second, before sighing. “Right, you don’t know about that.”

“About what?” asks Peter, afraid to hear Monica’s answer.

“Well, you see, Wanda – or Agatha, we honestly don’t know at this point, took an entire town hostage, and basically put them into a sitcom, with an episode for every decade’s sitcoms.” Monica tries to explain the basic concept to him, which makes his still-there headache worse. “I think we’re in episode seven or eight, which makes this the 2000s or the 2010s.”

Pietro chokes on his spit.

“The 2000s? _The 2010s_?” he asks incredulously. “Which year are we even in, 2030?”

Monica returns his incredulous look, “We’re in 2023.” she says and frowns in confusion like everyone knows it and he’s stupid for asking.

Peter looks around like it is the first time he’s seeing the town and laughs, a bit hysterical. “Oh. My. God.”

Monica looks at him worriedly as his laughter gets louder and louder, before she finally snaps and puts her hand on his mouth to shut him up. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but be quiet.”

“Y-yeah, sorry, I just…” Peter pants and bites his lips not to keep laughing.

“As much as I want to ask what this was about, I think we have bigger problems than you being a bit troubled in the head.” she ignores his protests and keeps talking. “But before that, answer my questions. How did you know Wanda is in danger and what Agatha is planning?”

“The mind-control thing, it’s two-sided,” Peter explains, still short of breath but calmer, “like, she’s in my head and ta-da, I know what she thinks too.”

He can almost hear the tinkering sounds coming from her mind as she nods absentmindedly. “Well, that definitely will be useful.”

He grins humorlessly. “Perks of being mind-controlled by a bitc-” Monica clears her throat pointedly.

“Sorry,” Peter says as he rolls his eyes, not sounding apologetic in the slightest, “I mean _witch_ , and getting pulled into a weird sitcom.”

“So, about the plan?” asks Monica, ignoring his sarcastic remark.

“Well, not much,” Peter admits, “She has that devil not-really husband called Ralph or Mephisto, with a good chance of the name being Ralphisto and wants to bring him back for whatever reason, and needs Wanda for it.”

“It wasn’t useful at all,” Peter hears her mumbling. “What are we gonna d-”

Peter suddenly interrupts her. ”Sssh,” he says, “Agnes is coming – with Wanda.”

Monica looks in the direction he’s pointing at and whispers to him. “Aren’t you fast enough to stop her or something?”

Peter snorts without humor. “Normally, yes, I am – but I can’t here, I’m too slow, it’s like something is stopping me from being as fast as usual.” he says without tearing his eyes from the pair of witches, who are now entering the house.

“It must be the Hex,” reasons Monica, and answers before he can even ask his question. “I said that people were being controlled, right? We’re an area protected by a hexagonal-shaped barrier -which we call Hex-, and only people affected by the mind-control are the ones inside it. I guess it’s messing with your powers.”

Peter nods as he processes the new piece of information. “I think it’s time to use these,” he points at the stairs leading to the basement, the walls wrapped in ivies.

They both eye the stairs, wide enough for only one person, and Peter knows what Monica is thinking – the same thing he is.

“Who’s going first?” he asks. While he can just use his not-really-super-anymore speed and reach to the basement without giving her a chance to harm him, he wants to see if Monica trusts him enough to work together.

She tries to give him a confident look, which honestly comes off as a grimace more than anything. “I am.” she declares, offering an olive branch.

Which he gladly takes as he follows her to the ~~coven~~ basement.

“You know, this place looks like it’s straight out of Salem.” he says casually as they keep walking, startling Monica, who still obviously doesn’t really trust him despite her offer.

“Wow,” she breathes as she looks around. She starts investigating the basement as soon as their feet get in contact with the floor, leaving finding something interesting to Peter.

Which is something he’s exceptionally good at, he realizes that when he catches the sight of a weird book, literally giving off evil vibes.

“Hey,” he calls out to Monica as he points to the book and flinches as his voice echoes. He shivers at the possibility of Agatha hearing him knowing that they are here. He imagines her casting the spell on him again, even though he would probably be able to escape from her this time since he knows what to expect.

Hopefully.

Monica gives him a worried look; she obviously has seen him flinching, but doesn’t comment on it. “What do you think it might be?” she asks him instead.

“I guess it’s a book,” answers Peter casually.

“No shit Sherlock,” mutters Monica as she looks at the book from different angles, careful not to touch it. There is an orange aura around it, and the normally cheerful color somehow looks sinister when combined with the book’s somewhat evil look.

“What?” asks Peter, confused.

“It’s- forget it, doesn’t matter.” she not-really answers his question.

“C’mon, what does it me-” he persists, wanting to learn what it means, but gets interrupted by a new voice.

“Boys?” someone yells, worry apparent in her voice.

_Wanda._

He quickly grabs Monica, and runs to behind the wall that hides the stairs in under a few milliseconds. “I thought you said you weren’t fast?” questions Monica.

“This is nothing.” he gives a quick answer to hush her, and frowns when Wanda yells Tommy’s name.

Wait, she said boys. Twins? What happened to the twins?

He resists the urge to go and talk to Wanda and ask what the hell is going on, mainly because he knows that she will probably try to attack him. It doesn’t look like she will believe him that easily either, especially in her state of mind.

He still wants to talk to her anyways.

“Billy?” Wanda calls out again, her even more worried tone doing nothing to ease _his_ worry, but Peter forces himself to calm down. What are the twins doing in Agatha’s basement? What do they have to do with Agatha anyways?

He startles as he feels Monica’s hand on his shoulder. When she squeezes it somewhat awkwardly to support him, though, Peter remembers someone is with him, and feels a bit better. He also starts thinking a bit more clearly. If he talks to Wanda right now, he’ll just make everything worse.

He has to be patient.

He hates it.

Monica lets go of his shoulder when Wanda enters their view, and they start watching her intently. She travels around the room, giving special attention to the orange Necronomicon, and not giving any signs of acknowledging them.

Peter closes his eyes tightly as he hears the sound of a door opening rather harshly, the now all-too-familiar feeling of worry flooding into him as he senses Agatha’s magic.

“Wanda, Wanda…” she drawls as his “twin”s head snaps up and she looks at her in surprise. Peter can’t help but feel resentful at the sight of Agatha, caressing a bunny’s head and somehow still managing to do it in a way that raises disgust in him.

“You didn’t think you were the only magical girl in town, did you?” she asks Wanda, and it doesn’t take too much smarts to know that she is damn well enjoying this.

Peter feels like gagging.

He steals a glance from Monica, who doesn’t have a single hint of emotion on her face, just watching everything tensely.

Agatha’s purple magic shines in her hand, making Peter feel nauseous as he remembers the fog in his brain from when he was being controlled, in the exact same color. She flicks her wrist, and for a moment Peter thinks that she’s targeting him, but she just shuts the door, as harshly as she opened it.

“The name’s Agatha Harkness,” she says as Wanda just keeps staring at her in shock. “Lovely to finally meet you dear.” she continues, a smirk slipping into her voice even though her face doesn’t really show it.

Peter hates her.

Agatha’s eyes glow in purple, making him inhale sharply as he tries to step back and escape because she’s going to cast the spell on him again and he will be controlled again and she will keep using him and-

Monica grabs him by his wrist and looks him in the eye as she forces him to sit down. She breathes deeply as she gestures for Peter to do the same, trying to calm him down. While he doesn’t really relax, he at least gets back to the reality and gains some sort of composure.

Still, even if Agatha is obviously focused on Wanda, Peter can feel the effects of it, and so can Monica, seemingly. He prepares himself to fight with some sort of spell to keep his control over his body, only to groan silently when he hears the same song for the second time.

_Who’s been messing up everything? It’s been Agatha all along!_

Like the hell he doesn’t know _that_.


	2. Part of My Charm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Yes, me again, with ~~more nonsense~~ a new chapter
> 
> ~~WandaVision please please please make Pietro Peter please~~
> 
> *clears throat* um, anyways, hope you enjoy the chap!
> 
> (Edited for grammar on 08.03.2021.)

You would expect Peter’s hate for the song to be twice as much now, since he listened to it twice.

But nope, it was ten times as much.

The point is, though, he still loathes it.

Fortunately, he manages to break out of the trance halfway through the song, maybe because someone up there has mercy for him (he thinks not, because what would he be doing here if that was the case), or he has developed some kind of immunity to Agatha’s powers (as much as he wants that to be true, he knows that it’s pretty unlikely, especially because she _did_ make him listen to the first half).

Or maybe because he just got lucky, for the first damn time in the last two days.

He grabs Monica’s shoulder, shaking it gently to snap her out of the ~~torture~~ illusion. She frowns after a few seconds, and her eyes gain focus. Peter lets go of her shoulder as she blinks in confusion.

“So, it has been Agatha all along?” she asks silently, and grimaces when she notices what just came out of her mouth. “What I mean is, has she really done all of these?”

“Haven’t we already covered that part?” Peter answers with no real bite behind his words, his eyes glued on Wanda and Agatha as the latter does some weird hand gestures that make the vines on the walls wrap around Wanda’s wrists, who’s totally oblivious to it. He clenches his fists, trying to stop himself from going there and putting an end to this nonsense.

‘You literally met her less than thirty-six hours ago.’ the logical part of his brain (which is admittedly tiny) pipes in. ‘What’s up with all this protectiveness?’

Monica answers him before he can get into an argument with himself. “We did, but knowing something and hearing it from a stranger is different.” Peter can’t see her face from this angle, but he can swear that she’s trying to hide a smirk.

“Ouch,” he whispers, holding his heart. “I-”

“Got it, you’re good at dramatics – but can we _please_ focus on the crisis we have on our hands and do something?” Monica interrupts him.

“I’m focusing on it _and_ doing something,” he scoffs.

“What-” she tilts her head to the right, “What are you doing exactly?”

Peter finally tears his gaze apart from Agatha and Wanda who’s still being tortured by that nightmare-fuel of a song, and looks at her. “I’m watching.” he says, and feels the need to add “I’m observing.” when she glares at him.

Monica sighs in exasperation. “Maybe you can ‘observe’ while we’re stopping her?”

Peter sighs back (he can safely say that his sigh was cooler, thank you very much), and explains. “Yes, I can, but that woman literally revealed herself with a _song_ that will torment you for weeks and never leave your mind – can you honestly say that you don’t expect her to have a monolouge about the ulterior motives she’s harboring?”

“You could’ve just said that she will probably talk about her plan and we should wait.” Monica mumbles instead of answering his question, but hey, at least she understood what he means. “Why do you have to talk like that?”

“Part of my charm,” Peter shrugs, and focuses on what’s happening in front of him again, since it looks like Agatha’s basic method of torture is done.

Agatha smiles at Wanda sweetly. If Peter didn’t know how much of a bi- witch she was, even he could’ve been fooled. “You never suspected me, did you? Good sweet Agnes, she’s always there to help you, isn’t she?” she laughs in delight, having too much fun for Peter’s liking.

Oh, how he would’ve loved to put an end to it, but-

_Patience._

“Hope you can return the favor for once, dear, because your help would be greatly appreciated.” she giggles like she’s making a joke only Wanda can understand – but judging by his not-really twin’s blank look and arched brow (how she manages to look badass while she is captured, he will never understand), she has no idea what she’s talking about either.

Agatha ignores her reaction – if she has even noticed it. “While I’m powerful enough to do all of this,” she waves her hand vaguely, “I’m still not as powerful as you.”

“Well, that’s a surprise,” Peter huffs, and his eyes widen when he hears Wanda answering with the exact same sentence.

Maybe they _are_ twins.

“And what I need is, power. I need power to bring _him_ back.” Agatha keeps talking as if she hasn’t heard her, her voice getting slightly manic.

His eyes meet with Monica’s next to him – one question shared between the two sets of eyes.

Bring _who_ back?

Fortunately for them, Agatha is too good for her own good at this whole villain-telling-their-story-and-motives thing, just as she proves when she keeps talking. “Mephisto will be back, I will save him from _there_ ,” she grins as she looks at Wanda in the eye.

Here is their answer, that Mephisto guy. Peter wants to smack his forehead, he has _heard_ her talking about this before.

“I even thought of using the twins, you know? Did you know that they’re even more powerful than you? I absorbed their power, but since your little babies are sooooo young-” Agatha says mockingly, and Peter can feel his knuckles whitening at the mention of the twins – just as he can see Wanda’s eyes reddening. “-I didn’t get their powers – so I only had two drained boys in the end.”

He’s going to kill her.

They are just children, just kids, they are-

Fuck it, they are _his_ _nephews_.

Nobody messes with his family.

He closes his eyes tightly, attempting to calm himself for the millionth time in the last ten minutes.

_Just. A. Bit. More. Patience._

He tries to smile instead, “I told you about the villain monologue, didn’t I?” he jokes. He grimaces at the sound of his voice, stripped from his normally lighthearted tone.

Monica, who has met him only ten minutes ago, doesn’t notice the change, of course. She just rolls her eyes and scoffs as a response, focusing her attention back on Wanda and Agatha.

“Well,” says Wanda, her head tilted to the right. “That really was a bad decision on your part.” she sneers, a dangerous grin spreading on her face, promising revenge.

The more Peter thinks about Wanda from yesterday, the more unbelievable everything gets. He expected her to lash out and scream as she makes promises to kill Agatha, but here they are, with her acting totally coolheaded.

“Where are my boys?” she asks, totally oblivious (naturally) to his train of thoughts. “And who the hell is Mephisto?”

If Peter was not occupied with freaking out about the twins, he would’ve had the time to be proud of Wanda for asking every single necessary question – but alas, he _is_ occupied with freaking out about them.

Agatha laughs and stops caressing the bunny’s furs as she lifts its paw.

Peter knows what she’s going to say even before she opens her mouth.

“Say hello to Billy!” she waves the bunny’s paw, “And the last time I saw him, Tommy was upstairs – having fun with his new pair of wings.”

Wanda’s eyes redden, looking even more dangerous than from when she blasted him. She makes a move to save herself from the vines, clearly fed up with Agatha’s bullshit.

Ah, here is another thing they have in common.

Unfortunately for them, the vines on the walls react immediately, with even more of them wrapping around Wanda. She struggles as they restrain her, making it nearly impossible to escape. Peter winces as some not-really nice words leave her mouth in that scary East European accent of hers, but Agatha doesn’t seem affected by her fury.

“You didn’t really think I would do all of this without preparations, did you?” asks Agatha. “No, all of this is too important to make a mistake like that. I _have_ _to_ bring him back,” she continues, sounding crazier and crazier with each word. “He is the source of my powers, and when I get him out of his prison, I’ll be even more powerful – I’ll be able to do anything, make people do what I want by just thinking about it, create new universes on my wish,” she takes a step to Wanda, lowering her voice to a stage whisper. “I’ll be able to bring people back… from _the_ _dead_.”

Peter doesn’t know why she saved that “bringing people back from dead” part to the last. Because, you know, creating universes sounds like a bigger thing – but that might just be Peter of course.

Or maybe it is because she is a drama queen.

He can practically hear Monica rolling her eyes, and he finds himself struggling not to do the same. He should probably freak about this more, someone that can _create_ universes?

_Wait._

How does that even work?

Agatha’s words literally shove it in their face that there already _are_ other universes, which means that there are alternate universes. Peter’s eyes widen in realization, it sounds crazy, probably because it _is_ crazy, but-

It makes too much sense.

Alternate universes. Possibly with the same people. Different versions of the same people. With similar names. With _the same_ powers. Even if one’s powers are obviously nerfed by some upper force from the looks of it and Peter is definitely fast-

_Focus._

So. He might be from a different universe. An alternate reality.

_What._

Fortunately for him, Agatha continues before he can think about it ( _multi-verse_ _,_ for god’s sake) thoroughly and his head explodes. “When I free _him_ , I’ll have the power to do all of these, the power to revive Ralph.”

“Seems like there’s no Ralphisto then.” Peter mutters as Agatha grabs Wanda’s chin, forcing her to look her in the eye. Peter feels weird as the purple and red sets of eyes meet, like he’s interrupting something sacred.

“You see, Wanda,” says Agatha, smile sickeningly sweet. “We’re not that different, two lonely witches, wanting to bring their dead lover back…”

Oh, and Peter was wondering where had the good old “we are not that different” card been. He can’t help but feel sick inside at the verbal confirmation of the fact that Vision is, in fact, dead. Wanda first lost her parents, then Pietro, and then Vision – no wonder why she was desperate enough to believe that he was her brother when they first met two days ago.

Also, again no wonder why she’s a tiny bit crazy.

“You, and I,” answers Wanda, talking through her teeth, “are nothing alike.”

“So can we help her now that we have Agatha’s grand plan?” asks Monica, startling Peter, who forgot that she is there.

Peter opens his mouth to tell her to wait, but closes it when he notices that there is nothing to wait for – they heard everything they need to. “Yes,” he says, putting his hair under his beanie so it doesn’t get in his way when he runs.

“Here’s the plan,” he says to Monica, “First-”

“Tell me what on earth is going on,” someone sounding borderline frantic completes his sentence (not necessarily like how he would, but still) as he grabs his shoulder, giving him a heart attack.

Peter saves himself from the person’s grasp in the blink of an eye, and puts him into a headlock, the red skin inches away from his eyes.

Wait, red?

One time, just _one_ time, he defends himself and it’s against _him_?

Monica rushes to them as she slaps a hand over Vision’s mouth, preventing a surprised yelp from getting out. “Hey, hey, hey – it’s me,” Peter says in a reassuring tone, releasing him.

Vision doesn’t look relieved in the slightest.

Peter sighs as he rubs a hand over his face, and steals a glance from Wanda and Agatha – who are still seemingly arguing. Then he turns to Monica and points at Vision. “We’ll be back in a minute – can you stay alive?” He’s pretty sure they will be heard here if they speak in a tone that’s higher than a whisper, so going outside for “The Talk” (not that “The Talk”, Peter scrunches his nose at the thought) is probably for the best.

Monica looks at him in exasperation. “Just go,” she says, and Peter is not sure if it’s because she wants him to explain everything to Vision or just wants to get rid of him.

Probably a bit of both, judging by the look in her eyes.

He salutes at Monica as he gives her a cheeky grin – and grabs Vision before running outside with him. “Okay, here’s the summary,” he says to a nauseous looking Vision once they are in the garden. “Monica, the woman with me, is a good guy, I’m a good guy, but Wanda thinks that I’m a bad guy because I was being mind-controlled by the real bad guy who’s Agatha-”

“I- I’m not sure I’m follo-” Vision tries to interrupt him, but Peter is fed up with people interrupting him, so he stares him deeply in the eyes – pretty sure he’s looking somewhat creepy.

“Don’t. Interrupt. Me.” he emphasizes each word, before continuing. “Anyways, Agatha is Agnes and she’s the real baddie here, she has Wanda captured in the basement and twins are a bunny and a fly now.” he finishes, ignoring Vision’s widened eyes and furrowed brows, giving him a comical look. “Everything clear?” he asks as he grabs him, ready to go back into the basement.

“Not really.” Vision answers, as he pulls away and starts shooting his questions. “Okay, now you’re telling me that Agnes is evil, was controlling you but now she’s not, the twins are turned into animals, that woman is trustworthy, and Wanda is in danger. But boys are not in danger, right?” Peter nods like he has done after all of his question-statements, hoping that Vision doesn’t notice that he nodded a bit too quickly the last time.

Vision runs a hand through his face. “I was away for just oneday, _one_.”

Peter pats his shoulder sympathetically. “Yeah, that’s it,” he confirms again. “Now that you had your crash course, listen to m- whoooah!” he half-yells in surprise as something like an earthquake shakes the ground.

He searches for something to hold onto, and unfortunately, that something happens to be Vision – which is how they find themselves on the ground, lying on top of each other. When the “earthquake” stops after something like two seconds, Peter gets up as quickly as he can, taking the dust off his clothes. “Well, um, that’s awkward.” he says as he helps Vision to get on his feet.

Before he can ask what was the whole shaking thing about, someone touches his shoulder, and the next thing he knows-

He’s on the other side of the street.

Why can’t people stop scaring him like that? What’s that, karma? If it is, Peter is ready to argue about the fact that he scared just one person for just one time – but now _everyone_ seems to have a new hobby, namely approaching him from behind.

Peter sighs and looks in the direction of the garden, and sees a brunette – and from the looks of it, Vision knows who she’s, so she can’t be hostile.

Probably.

He curses his reflexes as he goes back, thinking about how thirty seconds have already passed since they left the basement and hoping that Wanda and Monica are still alive.

Agatha, on the other hand…

“-the hell was that?” he hears the woman asking, looking tense.

“I don’t know,” Peter answers, even though the question was very much not directed at him.

“Hey, I’m Darcy, and aren’t you the fake Pietro?” asks the woman casually, like she always sees mutants running at speeds exceeding the sound barrier. 

“Yes,” he answers, fiddling with his fingers. “But I like Peter better, has a nicer ring to it, you know.”

“Can you two be silent please?” asks Vision as he closes his eyes tightly, like he’s trying to focus. Darcy raises her eyebrows and looks at Peter, who’s zipping his mouth shut – and is kind enough to show all the steps.

“People, tanks…” Vision mutters after a second, and the pairs’ heads snap in his direction. “They are all around the barrier.” he frowns, causing Peter to frown in return. Vision’s eyes suddenly snap open, scaring both Darcy and Peter (at least he didn’t run to the other side of the street this time). “They- they are trying to get into the Hex.”

“What?” Darcy asks, bewildered. “Wait, how do you even see all of these?”

“I don’t know,” Vision answers, looking lost. “I- I guess it’s probably because of yesterday, when I was getting-” he suddenly stops, clearly unsure of what to say, “you know.” he says finally, to which Peter objects.

“I don’t, actually.” he says, raising his hand. Both Darcy and Vision give him a look, so he sighs and lets it go for the moment.

“But does that mean the Hex is weaker than usual? I mean, that earthquake thing was insane.” Darcy asks, causing Peter to scowl.

“Seems so, but I don’t get why.” he answers, “Agatha must be using all her magic to maintain it, it’s impossible for overgrown cars to cause this much dama- _again_?”

The ground starts shaking again, even more violently than before. But Peter uses his speed to maintain his balance, prepared this time – and so is Vision, who’s flying.

Darcy gets the short straw, though, since she doesn’t have superpowers like them. “Shi-” she starts as she’s about to lose her balance, but Peter catches her before she can even complete the word. Even he’s surprised with how fast he is – having to live with being slow for almost two days does you that.

He lets out a little “yay” and punches the air. “I’m nearly as fast as before,” he states with a big smile on his face, but it soon disappears when he looks up to see the Hex “lagging”, for the lack of a better word. Peter wonders how much will it take for the barrier to disappear, because from the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like much

“Okay, _that_ _definitely_ wasn’t S.W.O.R.D.” Darcy says, stating the obvious, at least if Peter’s guess about who “sword” is is correct.

“Because it was Agatha, she’s losing control over the barrier,” answers Peter before scowling. He blinks, wondering how the hell he knows that. “Now, we need someone to get Tommy out of the house.” he turns to Darcy. “And no offense Darcy, but since you don’t have superpowers, we don’t really need you down there.” he says bluntly, and Darcy just shrugs in response, accepting her mission.

“Agatha turned him into a fly,” he ignores the angry machine sounds coming from Vision’s direction, “and absorbed his powers, which means he probably doesn’t have his super-speed.”

Darcy nods and waves to them as she leaves. “Don’t die!” she exclaims before entering the house.

Peter turns to Vision after Darcy gets out of their view. “Vision, you have a cape and you can fly – that means that you have other superpowers, right?” he asks, and Vision nods as an answer. “Great, because it would’ve been so _lame_ if the only supe-”

This time, an explosion interrupts him, the fake-earthquake coming moments later, somehow shaking them even more violently.

“I- I think Agatha is fighting with someone.” Peter says, still weirded out about the fact that he knows all these things happening to her. Realization suddenly dawns on him; he doesn’t _know_ it – he can _feel_ it. Strangely, the realization relieves him, because he even thought that he still had her in his mind for a moment, just the thought sending shivers down his spine.

“Maybe it’s Wanda,” suggests Vision.

Peter takes a deep breath and nods, “Yes, it’s probably her – we should go and help.” he says as he grabs Vision, and runs-almost-teleports to the basement. The first thing he notices is that the book of death is nowhere to be seen, even though Peter can still feel the energy waves radiating from it. Actually, now he looks carefully – that’s not the same room he left; this one is much wider and doesn’t have anything in it – except the purple vines that are still holding Wanda hostage.

Wait, she’s… being held hostage? But who’s fighting with-

Then his eyes land on Monica.

“Holy fucking shit!” he yells, both effectively drawing Monica’s attention and letting Agatha know that they’re here. He puts Vision to the floor, and ignores how he’s muttering something about subtlety. “You haven’t told me you had superpowers!”

“Maybe it’s because I just figured out!” she screams back, her voice high. Some blue energy comes out of her hands, supporting something like a shield, protecting both her and Wanda. Peter could’ve even thought that she has been doing it for years if he didn’t know better.

Vision immediately rushes to Wanda’s side, probably to help her free herself from her restraints. Peter takes a look at Agatha, who seems to be getting more and more annoyed – which means more and more distracted. He focuses on Bunny-Billy and sees that Agatha’s hold is pretty loose, especially since she’s holding him with only one arm.

Perfect opportunity.

“Monica, attack her!” he yells as he runs to Agatha, noting that everything around him is slower than the day before, but not as slow as they usually are.

Still not that close to his normal speed then.

When he reaches Agatha, he expects it to be easy, because honestly, who can fight against his speed?

Apparently, a shield that covers your body, causes backslash and second-degree burns can.

A scream tears through his throat when his hands touch Agatha – it’s too hot, his hands are too hot, they _hurt_. He feels a tear escaping, but doesn’t let go as he tries to take Billy back. After a few moments of struggle (since he’s trying not to touch Agatha), he gets sick of it – this might be his only chance, and he sure as hell going to use it properly.

Peter takes a deep breath, and reaches to Billy with one hand – punching Agatha in the face with the other. Pain blinds him for a moment when his hand gets in touch with her skin. The next thing he knows, he’s flying in the air, all the people around him returning to their normal speed.

He shuts his eyes tightly and tries to prepare himself for the expected pain as he holds Billy tighter. Just that he expected it doesn’t mean that he is ready for it though, like it is proven when his eyes snap open and widen as his back hits the stone wall, hot pain blinding him again.

He slides to the ground, his limbs sluggish, breathe short. Peter moans in pain, he is feeling like his back is on fire. After a few seconds, though, the ache starts leaving his body, catching him off-guard as his eyes widen in surprise. His back would keep hurting if something was broken, wouldn’t it? The pain slowly fades away, and Peter still can’t believe that he got off without permanent damage – it must be impossible after a blow like that… unless-

He tries to examine his body with one of his hands before the pain reminds him that he has heavy burns on them – so he settles on just looking instead, and gasps when he sees traces of blue energy around himself, which is probably what lessened the impact.

Mystery solved.

Peter looks in Monica’s direction, wanting to thank her for saving him. He scowls in surprise when he sees that she isn’t even looking at him, trying to hold on her own against Agatha, who now has both of her hands empty.

Realization dawns on Peter when the view makes it clear that neither Wanda nor Monica were the ones who helped him, he looks at the only other ~~rabbit~~ person in the room with magic – with a blue aura at that.

Bunny-Billy’s eyes are on the verge of closing, clearly too tired from how he used his remaining magic. Peter holds him tighter, careful not to use his hands, and thanks him quietly.

He watches like he’s under some sort of a trance as Wanda finally frees herself from the restraints with Vision's help, and Monica protects them with everything she has. Then he takes a look at Billy, who used the last bit of his power to protect him.

Peter feels himself being filled with strength at the sight – yes, maybe his speed won’t be that useful if he tries to fight Agatha alone, because of that goddamned protection of hers.

But that’s the thing, he’s not alone – all these people around him have his back.

It’s time he returns the favor.


	3. Don't Die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! More trash has arrived!
> 
> Before, song rec time (because why not) - something I just found it actually, and listened to it while writing this: Runnin' by Adam Lambert ~~yes I know it's more than five years old shut up~~ and it's amazing.
> 
> Also, I planned each chapter to be around 3k, but ended up with 3k, 4k, and 5k chaps. Why won't my fingers do what I want?
> 
> (Edited for grammar on 08.03.2021.)
> 
> Lol anyways, I talked too much, hope you enjoy this chap!

Peter has a plan.

Okay, not really, but at least it resembles a plan.

Kind of.

“We’re fine,” Peter yells to Vision, waving his hands – showing his burns to him in the process, proving that he’s not really fine. Vision stops, torn between helping them and keep fighting Agatha – making himself a perfect target. Not wanting him to stand still like that, Peter yells again. “Yo, are you deaf or something? _Move_!”

The last word seems to do the trick, and Vision returns to the fight after giving them one last glance. Peter looks at his nephew and smiles softly as Billy’s half-shut eyes meet his. “Thank you buddy,” he thanks him again, this time out loud, “now we should get you to mom, you ready?”

Naturally, Bunny-Billy doesn’t answer.

Peter holds him with his arms, careful not to use (or look at) his hands, and stands up. He glances at Wanda, who’s helping the others – but it’s obvious that she’s drained. He frowns, she hasn’t even been using her magic for long, why does she look so exhausted?

He snaps out of his thoughts as a purple spell hits Monica’s shield and explodes, reminding him that he’s in the middle of a life-threatening situation, and that means act first and think later ~~if ever~~.

Finally, something he’s great at.

“Monica, can you cover for us when I go talk to Wanda?” he asks her, to which she nods as she stops another spell coming in their way.

Peter prepares himself to run, before stopping when a thought crosses his mind. “By the way, what happened to attacking and distracting her?” he asks Monica, who did nothing except using her shield when he went to take Bunny-Billy back.

“I- I don’t,” she tries to speak, obviously worn out. Fortunately for her, Wanda and Vision attack Agatha at the same time, making her focus on them, giving Monica time to catch her breath. She puts her hands on her knees, panting. “I don’t even know how I do this shit,” she aggressively points at her shield in front of her. “What did you expect me to do, make some blue balls and magically beat her?”

Peter stares at her, tilting his head to the left. “Yes!” he finally says in exasperation, resulting in Monica giving him an unbelieving look.

She steps up to him, her eyes a not-really-menacing blue. “Peter get out of my sight now or I swear to god I-”

Peter is gone before he can hear the end of the sentence.

He runs as everything happens in slow motion around him, noticing that people are slower than when he did his last run – meaning that he got faster, and again meaning that the Hex is getting weaker.

He stops when he reaches Wanda, everything around him turning to its normal speed. “Hi!” he says, smiling sweetly.

And almost giving her a heart attack.

“Don’t do that!” she screams to his face, giving him a strong feeling of déjà vu.

He tries to grin, hoping that it doesn’t come off as a grimace, and ignores his hands that randomly started throbbing. “Pfft, whatever, hug me from behind,” he says as he turns his back.

“I… I what?” Wanda asks, her voice unsure.

“Hug me, from behind.” he repeats word by word, thinking that he has spoken too quickly.

“Yes, I heard you the fir-” she snaps, before changing her mind and sighing. “Just, never mind.” She hugs his back and wraps her legs around him, and Peter runs to one of the corners.

“So, you’re not really an annoying evil bastard, are you?” Wanda asks awkwardly when he puts her down.

That gets a chuckle out of him. “I’m not sure about the annoying bastard part, but pretty sure I’m not evil at this point.” Peter quickly grabs Wanda again and tightens his hold on Bunny-Billy when he notices a purple energy blast coming in their way. Taking in a sharp breath, he cries out in pain at the pressure on his hands. Quickly getting himself together, he tries to ignore it – and runs as fast as he can to get them out of its way.

Peter stops when they reach the other side of the room, the explosion the spell caused echoing in his ears (“Shit – sorry!” Monica yells as she keeps shielding them). This time there’s a third wall enclosing them, providing them a little bit of protection. He looks at Wanda, expecting her to be nauseous because of the speed, only to see that she’s perfectly fine.

Probably because she’s used to it.

“Thanks,” she says coolly as red bits of energy start coming out of her hands. “I would’ve taken care of it but those vines _literally_ sucked my magic out of me.”

He wrinkles his nose in distaste. “Gross.”

Wanda nods and gets closer to him. Since Peter expects her to take Bunny-Billy from him and turn him into normal-Billy, he holds his nephew out for Wanda. She looks at his face like she’s searching for something, then at her son, and finally, at his hands.

Peter is quite surprised when he feels her magic tingling around his hands, warm and fuzzy – the exact opposite of Agatha’s. He glances at her hands, holding his and healing them.

“How?” he whispers in awe. His voice is so low that Wanda probably couldn’t have heard him between all the noise if she wasn’t almost under his nose.

“I-” she stops like she’s not sure about what she’s doing either. “I think, I’m… rewriting reality?”

Peter makes a gesture with his head, talking about the Hex. “Like it?”

“Yeah, like it – I will be able to heal your hands for now, but they won’t stay like that for a long time.” Peter takes a break from watching her magic taking action, and looks at her with questioning eyes. “It seems like reality doesn’t like to be changed.” She shrugs like she doesn’t care, but he can hear her voice shaking ever so slightly. “It always finds a way to go back to how it used to be.”

For some reason, Peter doesn’t think that they are talking about his hands anymore.

“Will he… die?” he asks, “when the Hex is destroyed?”

The question gets him a sharp look from Wanda, but she sighs and her shoulders sag in defeat a moment later. “I- I don’t know.” she says as she blinks a few times, clearly holding back tears.

“I have a theory,” Peter says carefully, gauging her reaction. “Maybe this place is like a prison for him, you know? If he tries to get out, he disintegrates – but if the prison itself disappears, boom, he lives happily ever after?”

Wanda doesn’t say anything, but he can see the tiniest spark of hope in her eyes, making him smile slightly. “I’m sorry,” she says a few seconds after, his hands nearly healed. “For blasting you, sending you flying ten feet, and probably giving you a backache.” she explains when Peter gives her a confused look.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he reassures her. “I got used to it- um, what I mean is, you probably shouldn’t go around doing that. But I was being a bastard and you were not in a good place mentally.” He shakes his head, trying to emphasize his point.

“It’s not okay, she was in your head – she made you say all of them, it was not you.” Wanda says incredulously. 

“Which you didn’t know at the time.” Peter retorts. “And then I was being a mind-controlled bastard – which by all means is still a bastard.” Peter feels pride surging inside him when he sees the small smile tugging the corners of Wanda’s lips. He opens his mouth to continue, but Monica interrupts him.

Typical.

“You know,” she says, blocking an energy ball.

“No, I don’t,” Peter retorts, and Monica ignores him.

Rude.

“It’s awesome that you two are making up but-” she stops talking to hold Agatha back, whose attacks are getting more and more vicious. “I’m getting tired of being a human shield, and you have been talking for nearly a minute – Wanda and I made up in _five seconds_ Peter, five.” she says – proving that rapping is in her set of powers, considering that she somehow managed to say all of these in three seconds.

“She’s right!” Vision agrees, looking much calmer than Monica, getting his kick out of originally being an over-advanced machine.

“Just a few more seconds!” Wanda yells back, “I’m fixing his hands!”

“ _Anyways_ ,” Peter says, annoyed that his speech is ruined. He frowns, trying to remember what he was going to say, but sighs when nothing comes to his mind.

“Thank you,” he decides on saying once she’s done, handing Bunny-Billy over and getting up to help the others. Just as he’s about to leave, Wanda grabs his hand, making him look at her, and smiles, then she-

She hugs him.

Before his brain has the time to register what’s happening, she pulls away, holding his shoulders and looking him in the eye. “Thank _you_.” she says, and a warmness spreads in his chest. “Now go help Vision and Monica, I’ll join once I reverse that spell on Billy.”

Peter stares at her as she sits, and notes that even though she’s working on a spell instead of an injury, she has the same air of confidence around her – like she can do anything if she wants.

Now he thinks of it, she probably can.

He shakes his head slightly and gives her a little smile before running to Vision’s side. He can't hide his smirk at the little yelp Vision lets out when he suddenly appears next to him.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

He cracks his knuckles, feeling the adrenaline pumping in his veins. A grin promising havoc finds its way into his face.

It’s time for round two.

“We need to make her let go of the Hex – when it falls, I will be even faster.” he tells Vision, feeling the guilt deep in his bones, knowing that there’s a good chance of Vision dying when the Hex gets destroyed. He _knows_ , he knows that the Hex is going to fall sooner or later, but he just… Peter takes a deep breath and buries the guilt deep inside, somewhere deep enough so it won’t have the chance to resurface during the rest of the fight.

“Overwhelm her with your attacks, don’t give her a chance to breathe,” a dangerous spark appears in his eyes as he tilts his head slowly, giving him a borderline creepy look when combined with his grin, “ _literally_ , if you want.”

Vision gawks at him for a second before shaking his head, “And how do I not give her a chance to breathe? _Metaphorically_.” he emphasizes when Peter shoots him a surprised look.

“Keep doing what you were doing?” Peter suggests.

“I’m barely overwhelming her with my punches though.” Vision retorts.

What? Vision can punch her without her burning him, but Peter has to deal with his hands being cooked in the barest of contact? He honestly feels like stomping his foot on the ground like a three-year-old.

_That’s. Not. Fair._

“It’s the real min-” Wanda starts from behind them, and Peter’s pretty sure that everyone in the basement can hear her, including Agatha. “Forget it,” she says instead. “Just focus on your forehead Vis, and you will have a yellow laser thing coming out of it – this is over if you can hit her with it.” she explains, and he’s a hundred percent sure the reason why she was that loud is that she wants Agatha to hear her.

Peter can’t help but feel worried that Wanda trusts his theory with the life of someone she loves dearly. Agatha hearing what she is saying means that she will see Vision as the biggest threat, and will focus all her magic on him – and she has to let the Hex go to do so.

Wanda’s pretty smart.

She’s his ~~not-really~~ twin, after all.

Peter watches as he tests his “new” power, and he’s sure Vision would’ve turned him into a pile of ash if he was just a bit slower. “Dude!” he yells, his voice uncharacteristically high, “What the hell?”

Vision sends him an apologetic look, grinning sheepishly. “I think it’s enough of Monica protecting us, we should go and he-”

A deafening noise interrupts him, followed by something Peter can’t bring himself to call an earthquake – considering it feels more as if the ceiling and the ground are swapping places. The shaking stops after a few seconds, followed by a silence that completely opposes the noise from just ten seconds ago.

Then he hears the shattering sounds.

He has a good guess about what’s causing them, but it doesn’t feel right, because something is missing. It isn’t supposed to be like that, no, no, _no_.

 _No_.

Almost hysterical, he looks around, somewhat surprised to see that the room hasn’t suffered damage – but that’s hardly what’s on his mind at the moment.

He looks at Agatha, her purple eyes shining with rage, but barely a threat now that she’s trying to get herself together. He looks at Billy, still in the form of a bunny, in Wanda’s arms. He looks at Wanda, her eyes shut. He looks at Monica, who’s looking at her hands like she can’t believe what she has just done. He looks at Vision, whose eyes are shut even more tightly than Wanda’s.

He looks at Vision, who’s still _alive_.

He feels like his brain is split into two parts, one of them swarming with relief because Vision is alive, but the other-

He starts walking, then quickens his pace, then starts running, then faster, and faster and-

That’s it.

He can’t run. He can’t fucking _run_. He’s barely faster than yesterday, and not even close to how fast he was just a minute ago.

_No._

That can’t be possible, the more damaged the Hex is, the faster he is. That’s it, that’s the rule, that’s what happens. His normal speed should be back, the Hex doesn’t even exist anymore, why isn’t his speed back?

_Why?_

He tries to calm himself down, this must have a logical explanation – he can’t simply lose his powers, he just _can’t_.

He watches, completely numb, as both Wanda and Vision’s eyes snap open.

“I can’t feel it,” says Vision as Wanda speaks up. “It’s gone.”

Peter _knows_. The Hex is gone, it is gone.

But then why aren’t his powers back?

He can feel his breath getting more and more uneven, he tugs at his collar to loosen it – he feels like he can’t breathe and there are tears in his eyes and he’s swallowing his sobs and he doesn’t want to be here and-

Monica’s hand is on his shoulder, but he doesn’t look at her, not wanting her to see him like _that_.

He can hear Vision fighting Agatha, the noise mixing with screams, coming from outside because people are not mind-controlled zombies anymore.

He isn’t sure if the only screams he can hear are the ones coming from outside. 

He doesn’t look back, just takes deep breaths to calm himself down, he won’t let anyone see him like that, that weak.

He’s fine.

He can deal with it.

He’s _fine_.

“How did you do that?” he asks her once he’s can bring himself to talk without his voice shaking.

Monica doesn’t look like she’s convinced that he’s okay, but she lets it go. “I don’t know, it just happened.”

“Okay.” says Peter, rubbing his stinging eyes.

“Okay?” Monica repeats, voice filled with disbelief. “Okay? You’re letting it go? Just like that?”

“Well, I am,” he snaps, earning himself a frown from her. He tries not to think about it and keeps talking to prevent the familiar surge of guilt. “Look, the people, we have to get them out of here – and then there are the tanks and all, we can’t let them get close to here.”

She opens her mouth, but Wanda beats her to it, a big smile plastered on her face. “I’ll get everyone out of here,” she says as her eyes redden. Peter looks at her hands, seeing that she’s still using her magic to turn Billy back into a human – and she didn’t have that much magic to begin with. He wants to tell her that it’s not a good idea, but apparently, Monica is faster than him.

Ironic.

“No, I mean, yes – get the civilians out of here but leave S.W.O.R.D. to me,” she rambles, pointing at herself.

Wanda and Peter share a look, not really understanding why. Wanda shrugs and Peter sighs in defeat when they meet Monica’s determined eyes, knowing that she won’t let it go.

“Okay,” says Wanda, “then you should go, and I’ll get the others out.” Peter feels Monica’s intense gaze on him, his blank eyes meeting hers when she clasps his shoulder.

“Don’t die,” she says, and she’s gone.

Peter stares after her, but his head snaps in Wanda’s direction when she speaks up. “You have my back, right?” Peter looks at her face, and her trusting expression only makes matters worse.

‘Wrong,’ he wants to scream, _no_ , he doesn’t have her back because he’s so damn _slow_. But he knows that they trust him, so he smiles instead.

He’ll manage.

It’s not like it’s a big deal, he lived without his normal speed for thirty-six hours, and he can definitely stay alive without it – it’s just that… he expected that his speed would return to him once they got rid of this stupid hexagon. It’s just that his speed is everything he has, it’s why people bear being with him. It’s just that all his hopes were crushed in a matter of few seconds.

It’s just that he’s scared that they won’t want him anymore.

He smiles even harder, hoping that it reaches his eyes. “Sure-” he starts, but a frightened scream of “Mom!” interrupts him.

“Billy!” he hears Vision yelling before anyone can do anything – and watches in horror when he doesn’t notice one of the spells coming at him.

No.

He feels the time slowing around him, ~~but he’s not as fast as before and he won’t be able to save him and-~~

_No._

He runs with everything he has, the purple energy getting closer to Vision only urging him to be faster – he’s there, he’s almost there-

He throws himself on Vision, getting both of them out of the way, and winces when he hears the explosion happening where Vision was standing just a millisecond ago.

He tenses as he expects another attack, but when no spell comes in their direction, he tells Vision to buy time until Wanda’s ready and rushes back to her side.

“Huh,” he mumbles to himself, “neat.” Peter doesn’t know why, since he could’ve easily saved (much more easily, mind you) Vision if he had his normal speed, but he feels proud of himself – seems like he isn’t _completely_ useless, after all.

He eyes his not-a-bunny-anymore nephew, who’s looking frightened but otherwise unharmed. “Billy,” both Wanda and he say urgently, looking at each other in surprise. Peter decides that he should be the one to shut up, considering that he’s not the one who holds the mom card here.

“Get out of here,” Wanda says, her voice stern. When Billy doesn’t move, Peter’s first thought is that he’s in shock – but when he looks at them and squeezes his (cute and tiny) fists, it becomes clear that it’s not the case.

“No,” he says, his voice small but determined. “I’ll help you.” Despite the seriousness of the situation, Peter can’t help but let a snort escape him, seems like Billy started rebelling a bit too early.

“Nope, you won’t,” he says, drawing Billy’s attention to him. Peter looks at Wanda, “Is it okay if I…” he trails off at the end, but he’s pretty sure that she understands what he means.

Wanda nods firmly, clearly more than okay with the idea. “He has his powers back, okay?” she says, looking a bit uncertain now, but continues before giving any of them the chance to talk. “Go, I’ll finish this – I need just a bit more time to get everyone out.”

Peter smiles as gets closer to her, much to her surprise. He softy grabs the back of her head, and mutters “Don’t die,” before placing a kiss on her forehead. He grabs Billy under her shocked glare, who’s protesting but not offering any other resistance. Peter tightens his hold, ready to run, but-

He hears a harsh metallic sound, the sound of a door shutting – followed by a sickening _crack_. All of their heads snap in one direction, knowing who’s behind this.

Wanda throws a big energy blast in her direction just as Billy yells “Dad!”, eliciting a cackle from Agatha who has no trouble stopping her – especially since Wanda is using a big portion of her magic to mind-control _a whole fucking town_.

“Billy, Billy, Billy…” Agatha says in mock-sweetness. Peter starts caressing his hair when Billy’s arms around his neck tighten, his body tense. He sends Agatha a menacing glare, but she continues as if she hasn’t seen it. “Don’t you want to take your brother with you? I thought you loved him?” she asks as Billy sends her a scared look, followed by Wanda's furious and Peter's blank ones. 

He can’t understand what she’s trying to get at – how the hell would Billy be leaving Tommy behind? Tommy isn’t even here; he’s supposed to be with Darcy, and Agatha has even told them that he was upsta-

_Shit._

_Agatha_ has told them.

Peter wants to punch himself in the face, and when he sees Agatha taking a fly out of her pocket, he suddenly has the urge to add kicking to the list too.

All three (‘Four,’ he notes, Vision is awake again) of them watch her like they are in some sort of a trance as Agatha lifts the spell on the fly in just a few seconds. In under any other conditions, Peter might’ve thought about how it took Wanda minutes to do what Agnes did in seconds – probably because Wanda had to understand how the spell worked first, but-

Tommy is in Agatha’s arms.

_Tommy._

Peter tries to calm down, he won’t make the same mistake again. He won’t just charge at her, not without a plan, he needs to think about what to do first, but-

But Tommy is _crying_.

And Peter…

Well, Peter does the same mistake again.

In his defense, he was never the type to think first to begin with.

He charges at Agatha, who obviously wasn’t expecting him to do something like that that, especially after the first time. Peter wasn’t expecting himself to do it either, but he knows that he doesn’t regret it, not even a little bit. He feels everything around him slowing down – he and runs faster and faster, the burning sensation in his legs unfamiliar, but urging him to run _faster_.

Peter inhales sharply to prepare himself for the pain when he reaches them. He grabs Tommy and looks at Agatha’s hands, hesitating for a short moment. He can see that her hands aren’t burning Tommy’s skin, hope rising in him. Then he remembers how skin contact with her hasn’t affected Billy either, but Peter got burnt anyways.

Once more, he realizes that his logic is trash and he really shouldn’t think much.

He takes another deep breath and holds Agatha’s arms wrapped around Tommy, hissing in pain as he does so. He feels the force of a backlash building as he grabs his nephew, his hands feeling like they are on fire.

Peter even forgets how much his hands ache for a moment, when he finally, _finally_ wraps his arms around Tommy, taking him out of the woman’s grasp. He closes his eyes and gives in to the backlash as he hugs Tommy tighter, knowing that Vision and Wanda won’t let Agatha harm them.

But he also knows that they won’t be able to stop them from hitting that wall and having a déjà vu fest either – not with how fast he is.

He feels like _laughing_ when he notices that it’s the same wall he hit in his other “rescue mission”, but there’s no Billy to help him this time – and even if Tommy had some of his power left in him, Peter’s too heavy for him to carry anyways. He lets a sharp cry out when his body meets the wall with a sickening crack, his vision turning black for a few seconds.

He tries to stand up and run but hot, blinding pain washes over his body, and he drops to his knees in an instant.

Great, something is _definitely_ broken this time.

“Give him back to me, and I will think about letting you live,” yells Agatha as soon as he slows down. Peter flinches – he can feel the energy radiating from her, he can see the madness in her grin.

The expression of someone who has nothing to lose.

He honestly doesn’t know what’s scarier, her power or what she became.

He looks down in surprise when he feels Tommy’s arms tightening around him. He smiles slightly at his nephew with the last bit of his energy left and hugs him back, ignoring his body’s protests.

“Over my dead body,” he mumbles as a response, not even hesitating. He shields Tommy with his body, preparing for the blow.

For the blow that never comes.

Instead, as he sees when he opens his eyes, a mix of red, blue, and yellow flashes hit Agatha, sending her flying to the wall behind her, creating a small _crater_.

‘That’s how it feels!’ Peter wants to punch the air and scream at the sight of her finally getting what she deserves, but only thing he can do is to moan in pain.

 _Pathetic_.

“You messed with the wrong family,” Wanda says in a low voice, her voice thick with rage and her accent, as Billy screams, “Not my twin!”

Everything is silent for a good ten seconds, except for Tommy’s occasional sniffing.

He can’t believe it ended. Just like that. 

“Am I supposed to say something cool like you guys?” Vision finally breaks the silence, snapping them out of it. Peter watches with half-closed eyes as Vision and Billy go for Tommy, checking if he’s injured – but Wanda-

Wanda goes for him.

Peter feels a lump forming in the back of his throat at the gesture, tears in his eyes threatening to fall. “You’re stupid,” she says plainly, but he can clearly see the affection in her eyes. She’s looking at him like he’s someone she loves dearly, like he’s someone she had lost but now has back.

“I would do it again,” he tries to shrug, only to shut his eyes tightly, clearly in pain.

“I know.” She sighs as she cups his cheek and kisses his forehead, making a small smile appear on his face. “Hold on, that’s gonna hurt.” she says as red energy starts coming out of her fingers.

“Yeah,” Peter groans, already despising it. “Tell me what’s new.” He tries to swallow his scream back as he feels Wanda’s hand on his back, applying pressure on it. This time, the red energy doesn’t feel warm at all, it _burns_. He finally lets out a scream, not able to keep silent anymore – _seriously_ , if he doesn’t have whatever-the-phobia-of-fire-is-called at the end of this day, he’ll throw a party.

“We have to take you to someone who can heal you properly,” Wanda says as he pants, but at least the pain is mostly gone.

“M-makes sense,” he nods, and winces when Tommy almost screams next to his ear.

“You’re not really our uncle, are you?” he asks as Peter turns his head lazily, in his direction. He looks a bit too jittery, and his eyes are red, but other than that, he seems okay.

_Good._

“I guess not.” he answers, looking unsure.

Tommy looks him in the eye, his gaze fierce. “I still love you.” he says firmly.

“Me too.” Billy pipes in, looking over Tommy’s shoulder.

Damn, he had _just_ got rid of his tears.

“Us too,” adds Wanda, clearly for Vision and her. Peter looks at her big smile, livelier than he has seen in the last two days, clearly better off without the Hex’s burden.

“And yeah,” Vision says, scratching his neck. “And I’ll roll with it I guess.” He then meets his eyes, his playful glare turning serious. “Thank you,” he says sincerely.

“Yes, thank you!” Billy says as he throws himself on Peter. He sends the enthusiastic boy a crooked smile as he tries to hold back a cry, pretty sure that his right eye is twitching. Billy pushes Tommy off him (“Billy!” Tommy yells as he meets with the ground) as Wanda and Vision help him get on his feet.

When Billy wraps his arms around his waist carefully and sticks out his tongue to Tommy, Peter can’t help but chuckle. His face is hurting from smiling at this point, but he honestly doesn’t care as he feels other arms wrapping around him, enveloping him in a somewhat awkward but mostly nice group hug.

Like, ninety-nine percent nice. Really nice.

Suddenly, when he has finally melted into the hug, he feels a new power surging into the room, maybe even stronger than Agatha’s. He quickly pulls back, looking around him, but there isn’t anyone else in the room besides them.

That is, until, a yellow-orange line of energy suddenly appears in front of them. He tightens his hold on the twins, and looks at Wanda, who is… not worried in the slightest?

“Don’t worry, I know him,” she mumbles as the line expands into a full circle. Wait, no. As it expands into a _portal_.

“What the fuck?” Peter mutters quietly, making sure that the twins can’t hear him, not wanting to damage their pure souls.

A man steps out of it, maybe around his early-forties. His glare is sharp, giving him a serious appearance, especially when combined with his goatee. His red cape flourishes around him as he steps out of the portal, “I felt a powerful surge of magic, possibly involving an infinity stone, centered around this are-” he suddenly stops as he finally looks at them, still wrapped in a hug.

He looks at the group one by one, his eyes widening even more with each of them. “Okay,” he says finally, voice filled with disbelief. “What did I miss?”


	4. Full Name is Peter Maximoff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here with the last chapter, thank you for sticking with me!
> 
> (Edited for grammar on 10.03.2021.)

When Peter notices that Agatha isn’t here, he feels a strong urge to give himself that kick in the face.

There wasn’t anyone besides them when the man arrived, yeah, wonder why? Because Agatha isn’t here. She is _gone_.

And the thing is, it actually doesn’t bother him. Yeah, her escaping from under their noses is a bit discouraging and annoying and all that – also she will probably try to bring that Mephisto guy back, but he honestly doesn’t care at the moment. They have just got rid of her, and he wants to live their small victory in peace. That, and he has some bigger problems on his plate at the moment, namely what the hell he is doing here and what the fuck happened to his powers.

“So you won and then just let her go?” he hears the man asking incredulously, and Peter suddenly wants to kick someone else in the face too. He looks at the others to see that none of them are bothering with answering, probably going through what happened in their heads.

Except…

“I mean, looks like it,” Tommy answers indifferently, getting himself a glare from Billy, who’s practically worshipping (“Have you seen what he did? It was a portal – oh my god!”) the man at this point.

“C’mon buddies,” says Peter to the twins, drawing their attention to him. “The adults are talking – that means two of us should leave, doesn’t it?” he continues, Vision and Wanda sending grateful looks in his direction.

“Let’s go, Tommy,” he says as he holds his nephew’s hand and starts walking casually, leaving a confused Billy behind. Vision groans, muttering something about how he hasn’t done anything to deserve this, and he immediately feels Wanda’s magic wrapping around his waist, turning him around.

“What?” he says in exasperation, “leave the kids be, will you?”

Wanda turns in the man’s direction as if she didn’t hear what he said, her magic still holding him in his place. “Doctor Strange,” she says sternly – and Peter can't help but notice that she is totally rocking the angry mom look, especially with her hand on Billy’s shoulder. “Don’t speculate without knowing the full picture, several events happened in your absence.”

Doctor Strange (seriously, what kind of superhero name is that; even Peter can come up with something better) eyes the twins, then him, and finally Vision before answering, “I can clearly see that,” he says, voice starting to sound cold. Peter sends Vision a helpless look, who looks equally confused, but is still listening to the conversation intently. “I would like to learn about your involvement in this, with most of the magic I felt being yours and Vision being somehow alive.”

Wanda sends Doctor Strange a look that makes the hair stand up on the back of his neck. Feeling the tension rising, he gets himself out of Wanda’s magical-hold. “Anyways,” he says, stretching the last syllable, smiling innocently. “I should probably go and… um, you know, check on Monica – yeah, have fun!” he continues cheerily as he starts walking to the door.

“ _Peter_ ,” he hears Wanda saying in a dangerous tone, between her teeth.

He freezes and lets out a nervous chuckle. “Or, maybe I’ll just stay here,” he says slowly, “between these walls, standing _perfectly_ still.”

Wanda doesn’t look like she’s convinced, but after making an “eyes on you” gesture with her fingers, she turns to Doctor Strange again, who’s looking faintly amused.

“Listen to the whole story before doing something, because you probably won’t like it.” says Wanda, and waits until he nods. “Okay, after Stark’s funeral…” she starts, and even though Peter wants to listen, this whole mass of names is making it kind of hard for him to understand. So instead, he watches as Doctor Strange’s expressions change after each statement, from blank to slightly surprised to disapproving to bewildered. When he gets bored, he looks at Vision, hoping that he doesn’t understand anything either and he won’t be alone – only to see him looking like he’s making the biggest discovery of the century.

No one to share his misery with then. Great.

He stands there awkwardly for a few seconds before remembering the twins. He holds their shoulders and sits on one of his knees to lessen the height difference. “Are you bored?” he stage-whispers, totally ignoring Vision’s glare, who knows that he and the twins doing something together is never a great idea. A mischievous grin appears on Tommy’s face and Billy nods enthusiastically. Peter sighs. “Too bad.” He stands up under the twins’ shocked glares, who thought that they would do something fun. 

“You’re horrible,” says Billy, crossing his arms.

Peter looks at him in false-regret, “I know,” he whines, “it keeps me awake at night.” He probably would’ve continued messing with them, but his attention shifts to the conversation when he hears the word “Mephisto” coming out of Doctor Strange’s mouth.

With a tone that suspiciously sounds like he's scared.

“So what’s the deal with that guy?” he pipes in, getting himself an irritated look from the man.

“I was going to tell exactly that before you interrupted me,” he says, and Peter narrows his eyes as he glares at him.

“Well, then go on,” he snarls.

Doctor Strange stares at him before looking away and continuing, this time having Peter’s full attention. “That man- no, thing – he’s basically the devil himself. He’s extremely strong, is remarkable at shape-shifting and illusions, he can play with your mind and your memories, he can even alter time.” he explains as everyone around him shifts uncomfortably, even the twins.

Okay, maybe the fact that Agatha is gone bothers Peter a bit.

“Wanda, you said that she was talking about saving him from somewhere, right?” Doctor Strange asks, to which Wanda nods in confirmation. “He was sealed in a book cent-”

“Hold up,” Peter raises his hand, interrupting him, a dreadful feeling forming at the pit of his stomach. He shares a look with Wanda, who looks just as worried as he is. “Is there… is there a chance that this book in the question looks completely evil and menacing – and also sends shivers down your spine with the somehow vile-looking bright orange aura it has?” He frowns when everyone in the room except Wanda shoots him weird looks. “What?” he says, voice defensive. “Just asking.”

“Then this was a suspiciously accurate question,” Doctor Strange says finally, causing Wanda and Peter to look at each other, eyes widening in alarm.

“Shi- I mean shoot,” Wanda corrects herself just in time, glancing at the twins nervously. No bad words with the kids rule, right – it’s not like Billy didn’t have a problem with killing someone and wasn’t even traumatized when he thought that they died.

 _Wait._ This is actually very concerning.

After a short internal debate, he decides to leave worrying about Billy’s possible psychotic tendencies to another time. He searches the room with his eyes, finally seeing the bookstand in a corner, immediately relaxing.

“Phew, problem solved,” he says as he runs to the bookstand under Doctor Strange’s bemused glare, “The book- shit,” he says once he looks carefully, only to see that the bookstand is there, but without the book itself.

“Language,” says Vision automatically, and Peter just glares at him – now is _definitely_ not the time.

“Shoot, bip, bop, whatever,” he says as he searches every inch around the bookstand, like a student who’s expecting the homework they left at home to magically appear in their bag. “Awesome, our prison-book is gone.”

“Nobody says one more thing,” Tommy suddenly pipes in, all the heads in the room turning in his direction, “I feel less and less happy about our win after each word.” he continues, and Peter can’t help but chuckle despite the seriousness of the situation.

Billy snorts. “Techically, it's not your win. You just cried and waited for me to rescue you.”

Tommy elbows him harshly in response, a big frown on his face. “No, I didn’t,” he says, crossing his arms.

“Yes, you did.” Billy crosses his arms as well, but unlike poor Tommy, he’s looking like he’s enjoying this.

“Okaaaay,” says Peter as they keep arguing, relieved to see that the tension between the adults has eased a bit. “We should probably, dunno, follow her or something – hey, you two, scream a little more quietly – anyways, are we going behind her or not?”

“How will we even do that?” says Vision, bringing a pretty good question to their attention. “Doctor Strange, you said she teleported, right?”

“I can’t say anything for sure, but according to the magical trace she left, yes.” he answers, the tiniest bit of worry visible in his stoic expression.

“Seems like there’s nothing we can do now, then.” Peter shrugs, “let's enjoy our win before we have to get out and face the world with a revived man, someone manipulated and probably thought of as the bad guy, a-week-old tweens, and a-” he stops, thinking about what to call himself. He finally looks at Doctor Strange. “Hey, I think I’m from a different universe – but I’m not really sure, do you have a bibbidi-bobbidi to test it or anything?” he asks.

The man just stares at him, his expression completely blank. “Is this some sort of a joke?” he asks after a few seconds, running a hand through his face before rubbing his temples.

“Even I’m not that creative – thank you for the compliment, though,” Peter answers dryly, trying not to smile as he feels the shocked glares on his back.

He’s having way too much fun with this.

“Hey,” a new voice pipes in before anyone can say anything. “I take it that you won?”

“I take it you couldn’t find Tommy?” Peter retorts, knowing who’s talking before he even looks.

“Obviously, yes,” says Darcy as she points at Tommy, who’s looking at them in confusion. “Hi Vision!” she beams when her eyes land on him.

“Hello, Doctor Lewis,” he says, smiling back.

“Have you seen Monica?” Peter asks, but someone else enters the basement before he gets his answer.

“Yes, she’s started a riot against Hay- I mean our -probably ex- director. So far, it’s going pretty well,” says an Asian man, somehow looking completely worn out and energetic at the same time. “But now, I’m telling you what happened in the last two weeks, so listen up.”

“But we already know what happened in the last two weeks,” says Vision slowly, like he’s talking to a five-year-old, “we were there, remember?”

“No,” says the man, a mischievous smile on his face, making him look much more younger than he is. “No, you don’t – I’m Jimmy Woo by the way, from FBI.” He holds out a hand, and Peter watches as Doctor Strange makes a move to shake it, much to his annoyance. This is their show, some superhero with a strange (Peter laughs inwardly at the terrible pun) name won’t steal the limelight from them.

And that’s how he finds himself shaking Jimmy’s hand under Doctor Strange’s bemused glare. “Nice to meet you, Jimmy,” he says enthusiastically, “you probably know them but this is Wanda, this is Vision, and this is the twin who thinks he’s cool, and this is the twin who’s actually cool.” he says as he points at Wanda, Vision, Tommy, and Billy.

“I don’t like you anymore,” Tommy says and pouts as Peter's eyes widen. He suddenly appears next to him, putting his hands on his shoulders, looking him dead in the eye.

“Repeat after me: I. Love. You. Uncle. Peter.” he deadpans as he emphasizes each word, until Tommy shrugs and gets his hands off him.

“I like you more when you’re not being creepy.”

“Fine th-” he starts, but an exasperated Wanda interrupts him.

“Peter, quiet.” she ~~orders~~ says as Vision asks Jimmy to please continue.

Peter huffs but looks at Jimmy expectantly, holding both Tommy and Billy’s hands. The man clears his throat, clearly amused. “Okay, the first thing is, everything is Agatha’s fault, like _everything_. She manipulated Wanda to trust her with the promise of Vision’s revival,” Peter looks at the said pair, averting their eyes from each other – then he sees Darcy raising her hand, and Jimmy nods like he’s a teacher allowing his student to talk.

“Should the twins, I don’t know, go out or something?” she asks, “They are, what? A few days old?”

“Actually, we’re ten, as you can see,” Tommy answers as he glares at her, clearly disliking the idea of being left out.

“Yes, we’re mature enough to know the truth,” Billy supports his twin, sharing a look with him as they low-five.

“If I can stay, they can stay too,” Peter shrugs nonchalantly.

“Fine, I’ve never suggested it.” Darcy says and shakes her head before turning to Jimmy. “Anyways?”

“Like I said,” Jimmy continues, “she manipulated Wanda to trust her, then she completely invaded and started controlling her min-”

“Hey, isn’t the second part basically what she did to me?” Peter asks, feeling the annoyed glare of Doctor Strange on him.

“Can you not interrupt him every two seconds?” he snaps as Peter narrows his eyes, sending dirty looks in his direction but otherwise staying quiet.

“It’s okay,” Jimmy says with a nervous chuckle, trying to break the tension, “I have already said everything.”

“Wait, _that’s_ the plan?” Darcy asks as Peter and Wanda snort. “I mean, don’t you think that we should have something more detailed than ‘It was all Agatha, deal with it.’?”

“We probably should – but with S.W.O.R.D on our side,” he says, ignoring Wanda’s muttered “hopefully”, just like every other person in the room. “This excuse must be enough for twenty-four hours of time spent in a “heavily guarded facility” – which is more than enough to come up a better plan, I think.” Jimmy finishes in a somewhat sassy tone, and Peter half expects him to stick his tongue out to Darcy.

“Makes sense,” says Vision,” but isn’t this abuse of authority?”

Everyone in the room glares at him.

“ _Vision_ ,” says Peter, sighing, and looks at the others, “is actually right – that’s illegal, you know?”

Darcy pats Wanda on the shoulder awkwardly, looking faintly afraid. “I’m sorry, must be hard with two of them.” she says, and Wanda nods miserably without looking up, her face in her hands.

Peter claps, pulling the attention towards himself again. “With all the problems that might come up in the next ten minutes solved, can we go to that facility thing? I need a shower. And a full night’s sleep. And goggles. And a machine or hocus pocus for interdimensional travel…” He looks at Doctor Strange’s unimpressed glare. “…or is that too much to ask for?” he says lightheartedly, trying not to show that he isgetting worried.

“What’s he talking about?” asks Jimmy to no one in particular, so of course Darcy takes it upon herself to answer.

Not really.

“Yeah, what are you talking about?” she asks as she takes out a pack of gum, popping one into her mouth before giving some to him and the twins.

Peter’s eyes widen as he feels the strong taste of mint in his mouth. “Woah,” he says, “are those new, what’s the br-” he blinks as he remembers that they are, in fact, new.

And probably more than twenty years old.

“Never mind,” he says as he shakes his head, his expression turning uncharacteristically serious. “I know you probably will find this hard to believe -because I do- but I’m pretty sure that I’m from a different universe,” he says as he looks at each person in the eye, trying to make sure that they understand. Seeing their shocked glares, he frowns. “I have super speed and Peter is quite similar to Pietro, connect the dots?” When Vision opens his mouth to retort, he raises his hand to stop him.

“Full name is Peter Maximoff.”

Everyone in the room gasps (he rolls his eyes, _cliché_ ) at his dramatic reveal – except the twins, of course, who have no idea why his name is such a big deal.

“Um, so I can go back, right?” he asks when the intense stares get too uncomfortable, scratching his neck.

Silence.

He glances at Wanda, who’s doing everything in her power not to meet his eyes. He quickly averts his eyes and looks at Doctor Strange expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“ _What_?” he says when nobody answers, his voice almost squeaky. “If I can’t go back, how the fuck- shit, no, sorry, damn it – _god_ ,” he stops rambling when he notices that he’s only making it worse. Running a hand through his messy hair, he looks around surprisedly when nobody makes fun of his babbling – not even Darcy.

“What I mean is,” he says when he calms down a bit (not that he isn’t freaking out with everyone save for Tommy and Billy staring at him), “how did she bring me here if there’s no way to travel between universes?”

“She is powerful,” says Doctor Strange, his cocky attitude set aside for once. “What she’s using is old magic, and even the trace of her magic is powerful _and_ sacred. I would say she is a few centuries old, at the very least.”

Peter tries to laugh it off, his eyes betraying how worried he feels. “But Wanda is more powerful. She even told it herself, and then- then there’s you, right? You two can find something?” he asks, voice getting smaller and smaller with each word.

Doctor Strange’s stoic glare meets his. “Just that we have more raw power doesn’t mean that we can do everything she can, she is way more knowledgeable than us – and actually that’s not even the real problem.” He takes a deep breath when everyone looks at him with sheer curiosity – only except Peter, whose eyes are filled with desperation he can’t quite hide.

“There’s one thing only she knows, and it’s the key for your way back,” he says, playing with one of his rings before looking up. “Only Agatha knows which universe you came from.”

Peter stares, his blank gaze not reflecting his chaotic thoughts and feelings well. He can think of something that would sum up the situation pretty nicely, though.

“ _Shit_.”

* * *

In the matter of an hour, Peter finds himself in a room of the said facility (which is just a nice house), sitting on the bed as he puts his shirt on. He looks around to see if there’s a hairdryer or not, it’s kind of cold inside and he doesn’t want to get sick in his first week in a new universe.

He snorts in disbelief at the thought – it just sounds _too_ absurd. He knows that it’s _his_ theory, and he most definitely knows that it’s true, but…

It’s still too absurd.

He sits on his bed, hairdryer forgotten, thinking about everyone he left behind. He knows that he shouldn’t because he won’t be able to go back for a long time.

If ever.

Shaking his head, he looks at the weird Walkman they gave him, much smaller and lighter. There’s not even a place to put the cassettes in. He tries to remember what Monica said when she explained how to use it. He spins the little Walkman (‘MP3 player,’ he reminds himself) around his fingers, staring at the wall, buried deep in his thoughts. He puts the earphones on, and randomly chooses a song.

_Sweet Dreams._

Peter smiles despite himself.

Everything is so different yet similar.

He is okay with staying there, it’s not that bad – it’s just been two days and he already has more “friends” than he has back home. But he also wants to go back, wants to see the people he cares about, wants to go back to where he belongs.

And then there’s Wanda.

Peter’s not Pietro. He’s not the person she loves. He’s not the person she spent her childhood with either. And he’s not her brother, not really. He’s completely lonely here, save for the people he met less than three hours ago and the Maximoff family.

The _Maximoff_ family.

This term is supposed to include him too, everything and everyone he cares about disappeared in a blink of an eye – even most of his powers. The only thing he has left is his name, and he isn’t about to let it go.

And maybe, just maybe, he can give this uncle thing a try.

He wants to be a part of his family, yes – but he also doesn’t want to be a replacement. He’s scared of being a new Pietro in Wanda’s eyes, he’s scared that maybe he _already_ _is_. He doesn’t want it, because he knows he will let her down one day. He knows that he’ll never be able to live up to Pietro. He knows that he’ll screw up, and her heart will be broken again– as if it isn’t already damaged enough.

He knows that he isn’t good enough.

He knows that he will never be.

He snaps out of his thoughts when someone knocks on the door, causing him to wince. “Come in!” he says, taking one of the earphones off.

“Hey,” says Wanda as she opens the door and walks in. Peter smiles slightly at her before he starts to play with his fingers. He looks up after a few seconds of silence, only to see that Wanda is standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

“Oh,” he says, a sheepish grin on his face. “You can sit here.” He inches over and pats the spot next to him. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Life,” shrugs Wanda, “physiological issues, reviving people you love, creating a false world – you know, classic stuff.”

Peter snorts half-heartedly. “Tell me about it – interdimensional travel, time travel, a tiny Walkman, a new si- friend, and two nephews. Beat that.” he says, and feels his cheeks heating when he pointedly doesn’t say sister but uses the word nephew as if he uses it every day.

“You know,” says Wanda, tucking her hair behind her ear. “You- you can call me sister.” She bites her lips anxiously when she meets his intense gaze, eyes a bit wider than usual. “I mean, if you want of course, if you don’t, I’m perfectly okay with that, a hundred percent, tota-” she starts rambling, but a quiet chuckle interrupts her.

“No, I would like that,” Peter says sincerely, his eyes soft. “It’s just that,” he takes a deep breath, thinking whether or not he should say it.

“I know,” says Wanda, saving him from his dilemma. “I know that you’re not Pietro.” Peter’s head snaps up, and he looks at her with surprise. “If I had the chance to take him back, I would do it without a second thought, you know?” she says, staring at the wall Peter memorized every inch of. “But I know that I can’t, I know it now – there never will be another Pietro, and he won’t ever be back. It… hurts, it hurts so much, but it’s _my_ pain. It- it made me who I am now, whether I like it or not.”

Peter watches as her lower lip trembles, and she takes a deep breath, determination shining in her eyes. “I- I think… I think it’s time for me to move on. This grief, I don’t want to carry it on my shoulders anymore. It should be a part of me, not a burden, because it’s something that makes me myself." She takes a deep breath as she blinks rapidly. "I’m tired of escaping and acting like nothing happened. Because something _did_ happen. He’s- he’s… dead, but that doesn’t mean he’s gone. I feel him here,” she grabs her heart, her tears finally falling, “every time I think of him. It hurts, yes, but also comforts me, because I know that he’s still here – and will stay, no matter what.”

She meets his eyes, tears shining in them. “But now- now I have a second chance, and I don’t know if it’s because you’re another version of him, but I, I think already love you like I loved him. Maybe not as much yet, maybe not as strong – but it’s the same kind of love, I _know_ it.” She attempts to wipe her tears with her sleeve, but Peter stops her, gently wiping them with his thumb.

“I don’t expect you to live up to him, I know that you _can’t_ , no one can – not even Pietro.” Wanda says as she holds his hand cupping her cheek. Peter doesn’t understand where this intimacy comes from, but he knows that it feels completely natural. “Just a few minutes ago, I noticed that I couldn’t name any of his bad traits – because I have an image of him in my mind, you know? He’s perfect, flawless, he’s everything I can’t be. I _know_ he’s far from perfect, but I just can’t accept it.” She sighs, leaning her head on his hand. “I don’t expect you to be him, I just want you to be you.”

Peter holds her chin gently as he lifts it, a genuine smile on his face. “Thank you.”

Wanda doesn’t say anything, she just smiles and leans her head on his shoulder. Peter puts his head on hers, his smile still bright.

“Hey,” he says, after a minute’s silence.

“Hmm?” Wanda hums, her voice serene.

“Can I crash in with you and Vision then?” he asks bluntly.

Wanda snorts without humor. “Bold of you to assume there’s a ‘me and Vision’, or a home to crash in.”

“What?” he asks as he lifts his head, his voice bewildered. “What do you mean there’s no you and Vision?”

“We’re- we’re taking a break,” she says, her smile getting tighter. “He told me that he still loves me more than anything, but he needs some time for himself.”

“Is it… is it just a break or a _break_ break?” he asks, unsure of what to say.

“Just a break,” Wanda answers, a small smile tugging the corners of her lips. “It’s not even that long, he said he will be okay in a few weeks.”

“That’s- that’s good,” he says awkwardly, not knowing what to say since he has zero experience with relationships. His face must be making that pretty clear, judging by how Wanda bursts out into laughter. Peter tries to think of something to change the topic, but thankfully, the twins save him from his misery.

“Mom!” Billy whisper-yells as he knocks on the door, and Tommy bursts into the room without even bothering with waiting for an answer. “Uncle Peter!”

Billy rolls his eyes but follows Tommy inside, “We’re playing hide and seek with Jimmy and Darcy,” Tommy says, “and I-”

“ _We_ ,” corrects Billy.

“And _I_ thought that they wouldn’t look here, since mom said she needed some time with you.” Tommy explains, sitting between Wanda and him.

Billy frowns, “I was going to sit there,” he complains, and Tommy smirks in response.

“You should’ve been faster.”

“Just because you have your speed back doesn’t mean that you need to stop crying and act tough.” Billy says, an equally devious smirk appearing on his face.

“I. Said. Drop. It.” Tommy hisses as he stands up and closes his twin’s mouth with his hand.

“Thanks,” says Billy as he swiftly sits between them, and Tommy stares at his brother for a moment, shock evident on his face.

Peter feels the need to interfere when he feels the tension rising. “Okay, Billy, go and sit on your mom’s lap, Tommy, come here.”

The twins stop trying to kill each other with their looks for a moment, and their heads snap in his direction in sync.

“We’re _ten_ ,” says Tommy, crossing his arms.

“Not five,” continues Billy as he does the same thing.

Peter sends them an unimpressed glare. “And I care, because?” he asks, feeling Wanda’s amused look on his back. “Thought so,” he says when the twins don’t reply. “Now, c’mon.”

To be honest, he would’ve expected sitting with his newfound sister and two sulking nephews to be awkward.

Well, it is.

But at the same time, it’s great, maybe better than anything he has experienced. It makes his heart beat just a bit livelier, makes his eyes shine just a bit brighter.

It makes him feel like he belongs somewhere.

It makes him feel like he belongs _here_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's finished... I'm so proud
> 
> *wipes tears and clears throat*
> 
> Before everything, one part of the dialogue was (“You’re horrible,” says Billy, crossing his arms.  
> Peter looks at him in false-regret, “I know,” he whines, “it keeps me awake at night.”) shamelessly stolen from Teen Wolf.
> 
> About Peter's speed, he didn't magically lose it - it's the universe's way of balancing things out, he's as fast as Pietro right now. And I absolutely think Wanda and Vision should take a break from each other after everything - but I love them too much to actually separate them lol. Just a few weeks it is.  
>    
> **SPOILERS ABOUT EP 8**
> 
> Btw, what do you think about the new episode? I think I learned a lot from it, like being grateful for even 1.5 seconds of screen time. Seriously tho, I’m glad that we finally learned the backstory of the Hex, and it was well executed – so thumbs up from me
> 
> **SPOILER FREE**
> 
> Again, thank you for sticking with me, and I hope I made you smile even if for a few seconds - and never forget to smile, even at the silliest things, you look beautiful with it <3


End file.
